This Week's Discoveries: Healthy Eatin'

Italian Cone; photo from Raw Daddy Foods.

Here’s this week’s update after a week of being on my cleanse—hopefully some of these discoveries are helpful to vegetarians, vegans, and those who are just trying to eat healthier. Now, I really don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but cutting out sugar entirely from my diet definitely gives rise to some cravings. I was stoked with a visit from my buddy James “Raw Daddy” Hall, who brought me some of his latest cones to try from his business, Raw Daddy Foods. He makes flavorful and crisp flaxseed cones (they have a little kick to them) that he fills with a variety of stuffings, from a saucy Italian version (very savory), to a fulfilling polenta and wild mushroom version, to a spicy Thai salad version with mango. But the one that totally blew my mind was the creamy lemon macaroon cheesecake cone, made from a combo of raw cashews, agave, lemon juice, and raw extra virgin coconut oil, with a coconut macaroon crumble on top and served in a sweeter cone. Dude. It was heaven. The cones are $5 a pop, and very satisfying. You can find him every week at the Palo Alto and Los Altos Farmers’ Markets and more; check out his locations here.

No meat, no soy, no dairy. NO CHEESE. But my current cleanse certainly has me eating a ton of vegetables. Here are a couple recipes I fell in love with this week: this pot-roasted eggplant from the Paula Wolfert in Morocco story in the May issue of Food & Wine is loaded with incredible flavor, and is delicious over brown rice.

For lunch, I am way into this protein-rich Santa Fe quinoa salad, also from Food & Wine, which really rocks when served on a bed of mixed greens, with a scattering of pepitas on top. I also swapped out the cocktail onions for pickled green beans from Boozelys. Purr.